Come What May

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation nor do I make any money from using the characters. I am a part owner of Kyosuke, though.

NC-17

If you have time, please review. Thank you!!


Note: Did you think I had forgotten you? On the contrary! I’ve had a few sleepless nights of late worrying about posting this. My other commitments are satisfied for the moment, so now I can concentrate on finishing Come What May. I’m so sorry for making you wait this long.

Thanks to Ashcat for the beta. Kri*Kri, I love you and hope your stay in Japan rocks!

Come What May

Chapter 19
Drive You Home

It's funny how
Even now
You still support me after all the things that I've done
You're so good to me
Waiting patiently
And isn't it sad that you still have to ask if I care

I never said I was perfect
But I can take you away
Walk on shells tonight
Can't do right tonight
And you can't say a word cause I leap down your throat
So uptight am I
I never said I was perfect
But I can drive you home

I got down on myself
Working too hard
Driving myself to death
Trying to beat out the faults in my head
What a mess I've made
Sure we all make mistakes
But they see me so large
That they think I'm immune to the pain

Walk on shells tonight
Can't do right tonight
And you can't say a word cause I leap down your throat
So uptight am I
I'm praying for a miracle
But I won't hold my breath

I never said I was perfect
But can you take me home

*************

I stepped out of the limo and stood silent for a moment, confused by what I was seeing. We were supposed to be at some dance club, not here. Finally, I turned to him. “Hey? What is this?”

His hair was wild and his shirt torn, all the result of our mutual molestation in the limo, but he gave me that breathtaking smile, with lips bruised red from kissing. “Surprise.”

“This is our apartment building,” I stated.

“It is,” he laughed, a life-giving, melodious sound. “Now you know why I wanted the blindfold.”

“Let me get this straight, you wanted the blindfold in order to ‘surprise’ me at our own home?” I couldn’t help myself as the sarcasm dripped from my words. “Yes. Very clever.”

His laughter melted away with my words and the obvious hurt shadowed his eyes. He looked away as he nodded, “You’re right. It was a stupid idea, wasn’t it?”

Well. Now I’d done it. All night, he’d been walking a tightrope with his emotions, there was something bothering him just below the surface, something he was keeping a tentative handle on. Occasionally I would see a glimpse of the emotion, but he would quickly bury it again. A quick flicker of ferocity would dance in his eyes, like the reflection of a flame. Or was I witnessing the glimmer of searing disappointment that would momentary mar his otherwise happy features? Whatever he was experiencing, it seemed that I was at the heart of his jumbled up feelings.

As I mentally scrambled for elusive words in order to set things right again, he turned to me with a forced smile that did not reach his eyes. It was a chilling reminder of what he was when I first returned to Japan, a reminder of what I’d done to him in the past. He tried to sound cheerful, but he couldn’t disguise the sadness from me. “So then, Eiri, I guess it’s up to you. Where would you like to go?”

Where did I want to go? I stared at him, studying him closely, he held my gaze but his expression was guarded and unreadable. I found myself frightened by the look, as it seemed as if the outcome of the evening rested in my lap and we both knew I was at a disadvantage at this type of thing. “I…” Inhaling deeply I forced myself to continue, “I can’t think of any place I’d rather be than at home with you.”

He blinked those big violet eyes at me, as if he was unsure what I had said. The moment stretched on and I wasn’t certain if what I saw was confusion, pain or a compilation of the two. I sighed. “And I’m sorry I ruined your surprise.”

He shivered. “Now you are just being creepy. Cut it out.”

I couldn’t suppress my smile as I took his hand. “Shall we go inside?”

“I don’t know,” he giggled as he tugged on my hand. “You might be bad in the elevator.”

“You wish,” I muttered as I followed him obediently.

“I always do.”

It was a night I considered having him in the elevator, but I knew he had other things in mind. Even if I did manage to talk him into it, he’d be angry at me in the end. It was best I allowed him free rein this evening. He’d worked hard to please us both and in spite of my complaining, I rarely denied him anything. Besides, I thought as I watched his ass wiggle in those tight pants, although we’d eaten recently, he looked very appetizing.

When we finally stood, side by side in the elevator, I kept my hands to myself, but I wondered if maybe losing our bet would be so bad. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d let him have me, and maybe it would soothe his weirdness.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked softly. There was a tension in his voice again.

I turned to him and pressed him against the elevator wall as I tugged the side zipper on his shirt, tearing it further in my haste. “I was wondering if we need to dance first, or if we can skip ahead.” I ground my hard cock against his.

“Are you giving up?” he whispered with a moan, referring to the bet we’d made at the beginning of the night. The bet was whoever gave into sex first, had to do what ever the other one wanted. My wish was to fuck him in a public place, and his wish was to top.

“We can dance lying down, can’t we?” I reasoned without actually saying I was giving up.

“Are you giving up?” he asked again as he pressed back.

The door pinged and I moved away. “Maybe,” I said very, very softly.

“Hmm,” Shuichi said as he caught up with me. “I don’t know, Eiri. Handcuffs?”

“What is it with you and bondage?” I snarled.

He giggled in return as he withdrew his key from his bag. “You are so transparent, Eiri. I want my dance and then I’ll ‘cuff you to the bed and have my way with you. How’s that?”

“You wish,” I said for the second time in as many minutes.

“Yeah, I kinda do,” he answered for the second time. “Come on, I’ll fire up the stereo.”

He insisted on dancing in near darkness by the windows. There were a couple of candles and it was sufficiently romantic for him, similar to something from one of my stupid books. Of course, I allowed it, rolling my eyes and complaining the whole time, but I wanted that weird series of emotions he kept experiencing to go away. Foolishly, I thought if I gave him what he wanted, all would be well.

Thankfully, our dance turned out to be little more than a series of complicated movements to take off my clothes while he sang to me. Once he had that accomplished, he beckoned me into the bedroom and, of course, I followed. At that point, I would have followed him into a burning building and beyond.

He was surprisingly gentle as he snapped the ‘cuffs in place, careful of the cast on my broken left hand and afterwards kissing me tenderly. Sitting back, he took a moment to admire me. “You really are beautiful, Eiri,” he said with a sigh. “Your longish hair hanging over your lust-filled, lion eyes and your long, lean and perfect body stretched out before me like a painting. It makes me want to keep you here forever, locked up like this, so only I can see and touch you.”

I shifted nervously under his intense scrutiny. He knew words like that made me uncomfortable and I found myself squirming a bit. We were both painfully hard, but I could sense a curious pause in his actions, he was in complete control. I tried to calm the growing doubt inside. He had me where he wanted me, that was painfully clear and I realized the whole night had been leading up to this moment. He had maneuvered and manipulated me to this spot with simple ease and I had allowed it. I had walked into his trap like a novice.

He swung his leg over, straddling me as he leaned forward until we were so close that he could have easily licked me. I closed my eyes in anticipation of a kiss.

“Eiri,” he said, his voice low and sweet. “I think you owe me an explanation, you’ve forgot to tell me something, haven’t you? I believe you have been a very bad boy.”

My eyes snapped open at the tone in his voice, there was a scary edge to his words. Suddenly, I wasn’t certain I’d done the smartest thing by allowing him handcuff me to the bed. I felt a surge of panic, but also, the crazy, unmistakable shiver of desire. “What are you talking about?”

He sat up, shifting his naked ass on my rampant cock, causing me to moan. He dragged his fingernails lightly over my chest. “Don’t you have something to tell me? Something about a television interview? Or two?”

“Interview? How did…” I closed my mouth and tugged at the restraints. I found myself gasping as his nails dug deeper into my skin. Yes, the whole night had been leading up to this moment, his barely contained anger now radiated off him. I didn’t think he had known for long, and stupidly, I assumed he only knew part of the story. Once I told him I was going with him to Europe, I figured that would ease his anger. Gathering far more calm than I felt, I said, “It doesn’t matter. I’m not doing the interviews.”

Shaking his head he announce softly, “Wrong answer, Eiri.” Fury blazed behind his violet eyes and he frowned at me. “I found out from Mizuki, today. Tohma knew, too. How could you leave me out of such an important decisions like that?”

“Look,” I glared at him, or, that is I tried to. I’m fairly certain that my glare was not terribly convincing with my wrists handcuffed to the bed, but I liked to think it was a valiant attempt all the same. “I was planning on telling you. Besides, I’m going with you to Europe so it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter!” he hissed at me as he scratched me. “How do you think I felt finding out from someone else? How do you think I feel about you sacrificing your career for me? You should have asked me about it, Eiri.”

Realization washed over me that I’d hurt him. Our relationship was so breakable, all it would have taken was a few words from me, and I would have never seen the look of pain on his face. Not from this, anyway. I’d been an idiot to keep the news about the interviews from him. I’d thought I was saving him from pain, but in the end, this might have been worse. Now he had reason to second-guess everything. I should have told him all of that, but all I managed to say was, “I’m going with you.”

“That doesn’t fix the fact that you kept it from me!”

“I planned on telling you, I just hadn’t found the right time,” I said dismissively, feeling ridiculous explaining myself while being handcuffed to the bed. “You’re making too much out of this.”

“Am I?” he challenged, his eyes glittering with outrage.

“Yes,” I growled. The mood was full of tension, some of it sexual and some of it anger. For us, that can be a dangerous, yet wonderful, combination.

He sighed. “Sometimes, I think you do this kind of stuff on purpose, Eiri. I think you want me to find out. Maybe you even want me to be angry about it.”

“I get it. I should have told you, so let it go, already.” My comment sounded petulant, even to me, I was pushing him, daring him to do... whatever. I could feel the friction sparking between us, electric bolts of fire arcing from him to me and back again. We both felt it. I licked my lips in anticipation.

He nodded. “Yep, I can see that it’s just like before.” He leaned forward again, so he could whisper in my sensitive ear, “We’ll both feel better after I use your belt.”

This time I actually shook with his words, my eyes closing involuntarily with the tickle of his breath on my ear. He sat up one more time and studied me, a sly, evil smile on his face as he took in my quivering form. I looked away, trying like hell to get myself under control, trying like hell to regain the lead. Finally, I licked my lips again and glared at him, remaining defiantly silent.

He gave me that smug smile, apparently pleased by my reaction. “I see you are trying to deny this part of yourself, Eiri. I love this side of you, even if you don’t. I love watching your barriers come down, when you know you’ve done something wrong and you want me to do something about it.”

“Sounds like your fantasy, not mine,” I lied. In reality, I was usually in charge in the bedroom, far more comfortable being in control. On occasion, however, when the timing was right, when Shuichi was mad enough and I was guilty enough, it worked out differently. This was one of those times. He wasn’t feeling particularly lenient and I was feeling bad about not telling him, about hurting him.

He leaned over one more time and bit my nipple.

“Ow!” I hissed at him as my body jerked with the sharp pain.

“Be quiet, Eiri,” he snapped at me and then bit me again. This time I moaned. He crawled forward, towards my head and sat again on my chest, his knees against my underarms. His cock was thick and dripping, throbbing with lust as he grabbed it and said, “I know how to keep you quiet. Open your mouth.”

I glared at him once again.

“Ah, so you are still in denial, are you?” He reached back, letting his nails drag over my obvious desire, not enough to hurt, but enough to make me gasp. “Some parts of you, at least, are honest. Come on, now,” he crooned as he sat back up, grabbed his cock and pressed it to my lips, “Be a good boy.”

I opened my mouth and he slid inside with a groan. After my initial resistance, I switched gears and went to work on him, trying to undo him and regain some power in the situation. It was all part of the game and we were both reveling in it. Before long he was thrusting into my mouth and I was doing all I could to keep up with him, I could feel him thicken and I tasted the precome, he was very close.

He grabbed my jaw stilling my motions as he pulled out of my mouth. “Not yet,” he panted. “Fuck, you are good at that.”

He nudged my hips, “Roll over.”

My brain screamed with conflicting thoughts. “Shuichi,” I gasped, “I can’t.”

“Sure you can,” he whispered into my ears. “It’s okay, Eiri, it’s just you and me here. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Come on.”

His lilting words echoed through my head as I obediently rolled onto my stomach. The handcuffs clanked gently as I twisted them together and my cock dug into my flesh when I settled.

“Eiri,” he murmured, “you are so sexy when you are like this. So nasty and needy.”

I felt his fingers on my back, caressing my skin, soothing me. My cock throbbed with aching precision but he didn’t move off the bed. My heart continued to hammer in my chest as I felt his tender touch slide down my back, towards my ass. He didn’t get off the bed. My thoughts whirled, maybe he only intended to fuck me and not... the other thing.

He shifted on the bed but not off it, his knees prodding me to open my legs as he settled behind me. His hands found my ass, cupping each cheek, pulling them apart. “Raise up, Eiri.”

Again, I gave him what he wanted without protest, as I moved my knees up, lifting my ass for him. It was my penitence for keeping secrets from him. I felt his warm breath on my moist skin and then his tongue lapped at me. I moaned in reaction, disarmed with the gentle licking, the agreeable feel of his finger teasing my hole.

“Shuichi,” I sighed.

“You like that, Eiri? Do you want my tongue, my finger, or, maybe my cock inside you?”

“Yes,” I breathed, panting with need. I wanted all of that and more. I tugged at my restraints and my broken left hand protested at the rough treatment.

He pulled back. “Tell me what you want.”

“I…” the words, as usual, tangled on my tongue.

“Say it,” he crooned.

“Shuichi…”

His palm was open when he slapped my ass. The sound was amazing, the crack of flesh against flesh. It didn’t hurt, not really, but I had no doubt that after a few more, it would. My cock jumped and I squirmed. “Please.”

He switched hands and cheeks. Twice. Three times.

I was writhing, whining at him. How did he manage to do this to me? Me, the guy that never gave away control, begging like this. It was pathetic. “More, Shuichi.”

“Yeah,” he hissed. “You are such a closet masochist. I love doing this to you. No one else knows about this side of you, no one but me.”

He spanked me again and I moaned, feeling the sting. He took a break between each smack, allowing the sensation to fill me, allowing the sound to echo and dissipate, allowing me time to catch a ragged breath and then wait. The anticipation of every strike was excruciatingly erotic, my body shaking and my heart pounding. It was far more intimate than the belt and because of that, more wrong and yet more right at the same time. Strangely, each time he struck me, I could feel the bond between us strengthen. He was correct, no one else in the world would ever know this side of me. Ever.

He stopped after what felt like an eternity but was probably only minutes and I found myself whimpering, pulling at the handcuffs trying to urge him on. My cheeks were on fire, the pain quickly passing into hypersensitivity, my skin acutely receptive to the slightest flutter of air. His fingers brushed against my burning flesh with the lightest of touches, and I cried out with the sensation. His hand dipped lower, slipping between my legs and grasping my twitching cock.

“Sometimes,” he breathed with relief as he stroked my erection gingerly, “I worry that I’m really hurting you, you make so much noise. I’m glad there are ways I can know for sure.”

As he released my cock I gave another very undignified whimper. “Shuichi,” I said. He would know what I wanted, even without the words.

Leaning over, he blew on my hypersensitive skin and I writhed on the bed. “I’d love to fuck you like this Eiri. I feel like I could go all night. But I can’t.”

He reached for the key on the nightstand and unlocked the handcuffs. I sat up, and stared at him, my confusion evident, my ass stinging and my cock hard. “What are you doing?” I snapped.

“I can’t,” he placed the handcuffs and the key on the nightstand and turned to me. “I won our bet tonight, but I want something other than to have you.” He gazed longingly at my body and sighed.

“What?” I glared at him. “As far as I am concerned, this is not the time to be having a heartfelt conversation. Especially after what … I mean we are in the middle…”

“Yes, I know!” he shouted at me. “Look,” he pointed at his own pulsing erection, “I know what we were in the middle of.”

“Who the hell wants something else?” I snarled. “And what the fuck is it?”

“I want you to stay! That’s what I want for winning this evening’s game!”

“Stay? Stay where?”

He exhaled in his frustration and he shook out his hands. “Tokyo. I want you to stay in Tokyo and do your interviews. You can join us later, Tohma and I already talked about it.” He stared at the ceiling, “And I want you to fuck me.”

Well. This certainly wasn’t what I’d expected. I stared at him, trying to decide if I was angry or merely sexually frustrated. In the end, I figured that I was feeling a little of both. “You are a fucking idiot, you know that?”

“So you tell me on a daily basis,” he smiled sadly at me. “I wish you would trust me, Eiri. I know I’m still kind of a mess, but I need you to confide in me. Finding out Mizuki and Tohma both knew something I didn’t, really hurt me.”

“For the record,” I corrected with a sigh, “I didn’t tell Tohma. And Mizuki was the one to tell me. That is her job, after all.”

“Right,” Shuichi nodded. “Yeah, I did think about that, but still, you should have spoken to me about it, before you made a decision that would affect both of us.”

“Maybe so, but right now is a hell of a time to bring it up.” I answered sharply, suddenly craving a cigarette. The torrid mood we’d been in was shattered beyond repair. I got up to retrieve my smokes, needing a moment to collect my thoughts as I tried to let my frustration ebb. Did he have any idea of what I had just allowed him to do? Sometimes, he really was a fucking brat.

I leaned against the counter and fired up as I thought about it. I had known he would be angry when he found out about my TV interviews, but I didn’t realize I might hurt him, too. There was enough pain between us to last a lifetime already, I really wasn’t annoyed about that. I was irritated with myself, however, for allowing myself to be so vulnerable to him. I’d actually wanted him to do that.

I shuddered and chewed on my lip, thinking about the longing look he gave me as he told me he couldn’t go further. Really, in his own way he was looking out for me. By giving up the rare opportunity to have me in that state, trading in his ‘win’ to get me to stay and fulfill my publishing contract. It was hard to stay angry with him when we both knew he’d sacrificed a chance he might never see again.

“Eiri?”

I looked over. He’d followed me into the kitchen, his confidence was gone and his head hung low, he resembled a whipped puppy. “Come here,” I said as slipped my right arm around him and pulled him close. “Cut out the gloom, will you?”

“You will you stay and do the interviews, won’t you?” He snuggled into me. “I’d be sad if I gave that opportunity up for nothing.”

“You should be sad,” I grumbled at him.

“I know and, I am.”

After a moment, I asked carefully, “Will you be angry with me if I do stay?”

“Probably. I will be sometimes,” he sighed again as he hugged me tightly with both arms. “But I’d be angrier if you went with me and jeopardized your career. I can’t imagine that could be good for us, eventually, you’d be mad at me.”

I hated to admit it, but he had a point. Before Shuichi burst into my life, writing was all that mattered to me, the only thing that gave me a purpose. Now I had him, but I still needed my writing, too. I could not imagine living without it. I knew I would survive the bad press and angry publishers if I bailed on the TV interviews, but it might mean I would need to start over. If I had a choice, I would prefer to be the one to hold all the power. When I looked at it like that, it was possible that once again, Shuichi had saved me from myself.

“I’m sorry I ruined our evening.” I could tell he was crying.

I took a drag and hugged him. “You worry too much. Come on.” I nudged him with my knee and we returned to the bedroom.

Passion is a fickle thing. It can come on so strong and then disappear so fast. Normally, I’d be pissed as hell, so I was curious as to why I was calm this time. I think that maybe I’d been worrying about the hassle with my publisher, perhaps more than I realized because I felt as if a heavy weight was gone from me. I slid onto the bed, wincing a bit as my hypersensitive skin met the sheets. I owed him one for this, but I could take my time in exacting my revenge. He would know that I was thinking that. Sometimes waiting for the revenge to happen could be the revenge.

I placed the pillows behind my back and set the ashtray on the bedside table, next to the handcuffs and the lubricant. Shuichi settled down next to me.

He fidgeted for a few moments before he finally asked, “Are you mad at me?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “What do you think?”

He sat back, blinking his eyes furiously as they filled again. “I’m sorry. I really wanted to do the right thing for a change. I know I’ve been selfish for a long time, not only with you, but with everyone.” His voice cracked as he continued, “I just wanted to do what was best.”

“Cut it out,” I growled at him as I crushed out my cigarette. “Your whining is annoying.”

Touching my bare thigh, he gazed at me through his tears. “I have some ideas about how I can make it up to you.”

“Do you?” I raised an eyebrow and my curiosity blossomed. “Let’s hear it.”

He nodded as he straddled my lap and my quickly reawakening erection. He placed his hands on my shoulders, leaned forward, and whispered in my ear, “In two days we have a press conference.”

“So?” I snarled, trying to ignore the gently bite on the outer rim of my ear, his soft breath as it tickled my skin, raising goose bumps all over my body.

He slid his ass against my cock, humping me with unhurried movements as he explained, “It means reporters, cameras, and fans. It means flocks of people, very few places to hide and be undetected.”

“Yeah, so?” I wasn’t really listening to his words, I was more in tune with his body. It was screaming for me to touch him, molest and possess him, at least I think it was. It was also humming with a dominant, territorial factor that confused me, the anger in him was gone, for the most part, but there was a lingering impatience in him, possibly a desire to have me. Considering what had just transpired, I wasn’t sure I could allow that.

“Eiri,” he breathed as he grasped my undamaged right hand and guided it to his pierced nipple, “I’ll wear a skirt.”

“What?” I murmured, as his body demanded… something from me. I tugged on the ring and answered without thinking about what I was saying, “Why would you wear a skirt? You’re a man.”

“Eiri,” he sighed with exasperation and then nipped at my neck.

“Ow!” I grabbed the painful bite, convinced that he’d broken the skin. “What was that for?”

“I was trying to get your attention,” he snapped back.

Raising my hips and bumping my impatient cock against his ass I said, “If you hadn’t noticed, you do have my attention.”

He flicked me on the forehead. “I meant attention from the head that counts.”

I rubbed at my skin and glared at him.

“People, Eiri,” he glared back. “Flocks of people and who knows what they might see.” He tipped his head at me, waiting for his words to sink in.

Skirt. People. Public. My cock figured it out before my brain did, but that made sense, at the moment, it did contain the majority of blood in my body. “Are you…” I swallowed. “A skirt?”

He laughed. “Yeah. Maybe that will make up for tonight, even though you did deserve it.” His eyes sparkled at me as he rubbed against me again. “Sore ass and all.”

Images flitted through my mind as I kissed his neck.

“Eiri?” he asked quietly.

“Hmm,” I mumbled, my tongue tasting his skin.

“Do you…” he moaned as I bit him, “do you want a massage?”

“A massage?” I repeated suspiciously as the warning bells pealed in my head. I pulled back to look him in the eyes.

“Yeah,” he gave me that innocent look.

He was a master of manipulation and over the years, I’d struggled with wondering if it was intentional or accidental. There was a time I wanted to believe it was accidental, but after watching him work on people other than myself, I had to concede he was at least partially conscious of his actions. I’d even seen Tohma cave in to his wiles, although I was certain my brother-in-law would deny it. I also couldn’t ignore all the hearts he’d broken.

As I gazed into his violet eyes, shiny and pleading, noting that his cheeks still glistened with tears, I knew I’d already lost. I sighed as I slithered down and then rolled onto my stomach as he moved off me. “Just… behave yourself,” I muttered.

“You’d be disappointed if I did,” he answered with a musical chuckle.

“Huh,” I replied, silently agreeing with him.

“Hang on, while I get the oil,” he said as I felt him slid off the bed.

“Hmm,” I mumbled, feeling the tranquility steal over my body. I really did trust him if I was this calm after what just happened. Not to mention, he was rather good at giving massages, even if I did wonder who had taught him. I had my suspicions but I hadn’t ever voiced them.

Suddenly, the warning bells pealed again. I sat up.

“Vanilla scent all right with you? You know what that does to me.” He chuckled as he came back into the room with a bottle of oil. His smile melted as he took in my scowl. “What’s wrong, Eiri?”

“Where will you stay in London?”

“I… um, well,” he stammered.

“Where?” I demanded.

“Well, I did speak to Hiro and he said I was welcome to stay with him, Suguru and Kyo.”

“Fuck that,” I hissed at him. “You are not staying with them.”

“But Eiri, I already told Hiro…”

I cut him off, my temper boiling, “That’s just too fucking bad, isn’t it? How could you think I would be okay with that? What are you, a moron or something? You fucked two of the three people living there and for all I know, they’ll try it again.”

“Eiri…” His eyes were wide. “You know it’s not like that. Kyo and Hiro are…”

“I don’t want to hear it, damn it!” I shouted. “If I agree to stay here for you, the least you can do is agree to stay in a hotel room by yourself!” The fury bubbled in me and I reached out with my right hand and grabbed his wrist, pulling him onto the bed.

“Hey,” he protested as I pressed my body on top of his, holding him down and kissing him roughly.

I reached for the handcuffs, holding his arms down with my knees, and my temper raging, I managed to ‘cuff his left wrist.

“Stop it, Eiri,” he cried out as he struggled against me. “I know you’re angry with me, but stop. Please.”

Aware that I was walking the edge of violence, I released him and slid off the bed. “Sorry,” I panted.

“This night wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” he sobbed.

His wounded, violet eyes broke my heart. I had to get away from them. “You’re right,” I answered as I gathered my clothes and began to dress. “I think I’ll go home, now.”

“Don’t…” he whispered. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’m not leaving you.” I sighed as I finished dressing. “I’ll be across the hall. Maybe we just need some space. Why don’t you come over in a little while? After we’ve both had a little time to cool off.”

He didn’t answer.

“Shuichi?”

He leapt off the bed at me and grabbed me, the free end of the handcuff whacked me in the back as he wrapped his arms around me and sent us both crashing to the floor. “You are not going anywhere,” he yelled at me as he somehow managed to ‘cuff my right hand to his left. “This night is not over!”

My head rang from contact of the floor and I had to shake my vision clear as I tried to dislodge him from me. “What the fuck are you doing? Are you trying to break both of my hands?”

“If I have to, yes,” he snarled in reply as he tried to keep me pinned. “You are not leaving!”

I’d forgotten what a wild thing he could be as we wrestled next to the bed, my shirt tearing, my body bruising on the wood flooring. It must have been worse for him as I gained my feet and tried to get to the handcuff key by dragging him, naked, across the floor, essentially abrading his skin. His quick thinking, vengeful move was to hook his feet around a leg to the bed and yank his hand back. He nearly wrenched my arm from the socket and now that I was unbalanced, I fell to my knees. I tried to catch myself with my broken hand, but realized in time what I was attempting to do and crashed on to my shoulder and rolled to my back.

“Ow,” I panted both of my shoulders and knees aching, and my head buzzing. My right arm had come to rest next to my head and my wrist was burning from where the handcuff had torn the skin.

Shuichi was also on his back, his head next to mine, and breathing hard as he stared at the ceiling. His left arm flung wide, and we remained tethered together. I could see a trickle of blood run down his arm, the source of the wound was from the handcuff.

“Fucking brat,” I hissed.

He started to laugh. “I’ll make you a deal, Eiri.”

“Huh.”

“You stay here, and I promise I’ll stay in the hotel. You can have Tohma give you updates.”

“Like I’d trust him,” I said.

He laughed again. “Eiri?”

“Hmm?”

“Maybe we should just sleep now?”

I sat up, careful of our bound wrists, “First, we have to get these stupid handcuffs off. Second, I need a smoke. Third, we need to clean up our various scratches.”

“I’ll get the bandages,” he said as he reached for the key and unlocked my handcuff first.

“And,” I rubbed my sore wrist as I continued, “you still owe me a massage. Especially now, after nearly wrenching my arm out of its socket.”

He raised an eyebrow in surprise and said with a hopeful sound, “A massage? You mean…”

“One thing at a time,” I snarled.

He smiled. “Right.”

He gathered bandages and antiseptic cream, and together we tended wounds with soft, encouraging words. The rest of the night was tender and sweet, full of kisses and gentle caresses. I let him have me and in return, I had him, the opposite of our first second date not so long ago, but it was all good. Reestablishing our deep bond, and promising one another with our bodies and voices to be faithful during our upcoming separation.


The phone was ringing. It wasn’t my phone, but it was ringing all the same. I looked over at the empty space on the bed next to me and tried to focus. I could see a note on the pillow and I grabbed and read it.

The irritating phone rang again. I located it in a pile of clothes. “What?” I demanded.

“Where’s Shuichi?” he answered with the same gruffness I had.

“At the dojo. What do you want?”

“I want to speak… hey!” he shouted at someone else. I heard the tussle in the background as the phone exchanged hands.

“Hey, Yuki-san!! How are ya?”

Well, this was all I needed. There was neither nicotine nor caffeine in my body. I did not want to deal with a smarmy Inoue. I waited. He waited. I knew he was grinning at the phone. Finally, I spoke, “He’s not staying with you.”

“Yeah? Well, that’s why we were calling,” Inoue said in a rare moment of seriousness.

“What?” I worked my way to my cigarettes. It would be good to get at least one drug coursing through my blood.

He laughed, “Suguru is on an even keel with you about Shu staying with us. It’s completely out of the question. Hiroshi simply answered Shuichi’s request with his heart, and not his head. He forgot that two other people needed to be consulted.”

“Really?” I answered as I lit up. Truthfully, it had never been Nakano’s heart I’d been worried about.

“Yep,” he said smugly. “I also understood that Shu hadn’t talked to you about it, I suspected you would be against it.”

“A bit.” I heard the front door open.

“Yeah. But I’ll be happy to keep an eye on him for you; after all, he’ll be very lonely without you…”

I hung up, cutting off his prattling, smarmy attempt to rattle me.

“Who was that?” Shuichi asked, his body still slick with sweat from his workout.

“Inoue and Nakano. I told them you would not be staying there.”

“Oh,” he said quietly. “Were they mad?”

I shook my head, realizing he was worried about them. It pissed me off. “No. Apparently, Fujisaki wasn’t having it.”

He nodded. “I wondered about that.”

“But you didn’t wonder about me?”

“Hiro did…” he sighed as he sat on the bed. “I messed up again didn’t I?”

“Not tragically,” I answered as I took a satisfying drag on my cigarette.

“Eiri?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you join me in the shower?”

I looked into those bright violet eyes, full of fear and hope, full of love and life. After a moment, I crushed out my cigarette and motioned for him to lead the way to the bathroom. As I followed his fine ass down the hall, I considered the last twenty-four hours. Jealousy, passion and anger, made a strange mixture for a relationship, but it was our nature to thrive on it.

We made a good couple.

TBC


Lyrics for Drive You Home by Garbage